Cheyney women drop 44th straight game

With Saturday’s 64-48 loss to visiting Mercyhurst, the Wolves’ epic losing streak has now reached 44 in a row. The second anniversary of the last victory – which came on Feb. 5th, 2011 against East Stroudsburg – is fast approaching.

The 44 straight is also nearing the men’s Division II record of 46 in a row, but is still quite a way from approaching the women’s mark of 70 straight, set by Notre Dame de Namur in California from 1988-92. But with just 13 conference games remaining, the prospect of another winless season is now very real. Keep in mind that CU is a combined 2-41 against PSAC foes since the 2010-11 campaign.

“I don’t want to talk about that,” fifth-year head coach Marilyn Stephens said when asked about the skid. “I am just trying to approach each day as a new day to get it right. I can’t worry about yesterday. I have to worry about the present and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Only three players on the current roster -- Lachelle Miller, Tamara Russell and India Cross -- have ever experienced what it feels like to win a college basketball game. There have been a few opportunities to end one of the nation’s longest losing skids, like a 65-61 squeaker at Clarion earlier this month.

“It is frustrating to lose,” said forward Kyra Hines-Allen, the reigning PSAC East Freshman of the Week. “It’s difficult for me because I’m not used to this. This didn’t happen to me in high school.”

Hines-Allen poured in a career-high 24 points, and junior Lachelle Miller added 16 against Mercyhurst (4-5, 4-9), but the rest of the starters were a combined 1-for-16 from the floor. The Wolves (0-9, 0-12) won the battle of the boards (35-32), committed four fewer turnovers, and yet still lost by 16.

“We have to execute our offense and not panic if the first option doesn’t work,” Stephens said. “If you do that early, everybody starts panicking.”

It’s pretty clear at this point that the Wolves are playing harder and with more intensity than a year ago. But believe it or not, this team may not have as much ability as the winless 0-for-26 squad of 2011-12, particularly at the offensive end.

“We have the tools necessary but we have to be consistent,” Stephens said.

“What we need to work on is being able to focus and finish the whole game and not just doing it in spurts,” Hines-Allen echoed. “That’s what we are doing now.”

Cheyney is shooting below 30 percent from the field for the season and commits an average of nearly 30 turnovers per game. So it’s no wonder the squad is averaging 45.5 points an outing – which is last in the 16-team PSAC by 12 points a game.

The first 10 minutes of Saturday’s action threatened to set the game back a century as both teams combined to score a total of 10 points. But then, in the span of less than three minutes, CU put it together briefly and reeled off nine quick points to take a 12-9 lead.

It wouldn’t last, however, as the Wolves proceeded to miss 10 of their next 11 shots, which allowed the Lakers to finish the half with a 19-2 surge and take a 28-14 lead into the break. The second half was a bit more competitive, but Cheyney never seriously mounted a comeback bid.

Hines-Allen went to the free-throw line 17 times, logged a team-best 33 minutes and was a bright spot in an otherwise dreary afternoon amid another dismal season.

“Kyra’s confidence has grown and her teammates are confident in her,” Stephens said. “But everybody needs to play like that. She is playing hard and effectively.”